Box Hill, Victoria
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| Box Hill Melbourne, Victoria |
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| Image:Boxhillarms.jpg Box Hill's coat of arms |
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| Population: | 8130 (2001 census) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 3128 | ||||||||||||
| Area: | 3.5 km² | ||||||||||||
| Property Value: | AUD $445,500 [1] | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 16 km from Melbourne | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | City of Whitehorse | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Box Hill | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Chisholm | ||||||||||||
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Box Hill is a multicultural suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Whitehorse. It boasts the second largest retail and office precinct outside downtown Melbourne. The suburb is home to large Chinese and Vietnamese communities, and as a result boasts a diverse range of restaurants, bars and cafes.
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[edit] History
Box Hill was first settled by the squatter Arundel Wrighte, formerly of Van Diemen's Land, who in 1838 took up a pastoral lease on the land he had previously explored in the Bushy Creek area. The first permanent settlers, Thomas Toogood and his wife, purchased 5,000 acres in 1841, and Wrighte built a house on his property "Marionvale" in 1844. The Pioneers' Memorial, which can be found in front of the town hall, is made from a chimney stone taken from Wrighte's original house. It was not until after 1850, however, that Crown lands were subdivided and sold. Traffic along a main road running through the district encouraged the building of a hotel at Box Hill in 1853. Its owner named it the White Horse hotel, and the name was bestowed on the road. In 1861 a post office was opened at Box Hill, the first official use of the name. The postmaster proposed the name, derived from Box Hill in Surrey, England, near his birthplace.
In 1871 Box Hill township's population was 154 and the district relied on orchards, vineyards and mixed farming. The extension of the railway from Camberwell, to Lilydale, in 1882 included a station at Box Hill but there were also stations at Canterbury, and Surrey Hills, to the west. They attracted subdivisions and development ahead of Box Hill. Growth came, though, with a school opening in Box Hill in 1887 and the town became the seat of the Nunawading shire council, which met at the Box Hill court house.
In 1895 a market was opened near Box Hill railway station, which improved Box Hill's commercial importance. Box Hill was also the starting point for a tramline to Doncaster, which ran from 1889 to 1896. This was the first electric tramline in the southern hemisphere. The 1890s also saw the opening of a gas works, several brickworks and a private girls' high school.
Unlike suburbs closer to Melbourne, Box Hill lacked the web of tramlines which promoted residential development beyond reach of the railway line. In 1916-17 tramlines reached the western edge of what in a short time would be the Box Hill municipality at Burwood, Mont Albert, and Wattle Park. The years after the first world war saw Box Hill's turn for residential growth. A girls' technical school was built in 1924 and a boys' high school in 1930. During the Second World War a boys' technical school was opened.
In 1933, in its eightieth year, the Whitehorse Hotel was demolished. It had been closed since 1921, when Box Hill, prohibited the sale of alcohol in the town area. After the end of the Second World War Box Hill was suburbanised, but Box Hill South and Box Hill North comparatively undeveloped.
Post war housing expansion included a Housing Commission estate in Box Hill South. A district hospital was opened in 1956. The shopping area enjoyed growth and prosperity which, ironically, by the end of the 1950s was putting strain on it: there was not enough space for parking. The development of Myer Eastland and Doncaster Shoppingtown in the late 1960s took trade away, and the shopping centre regained custom by undergrounding the railway line and station and building Box Hill Central on land which included the old market.
In 1954 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works designated Box Hill as one of five district centres for metropolitan Melbourne. The plan has succeeded in Box Hill. In addition to the shopping centre, the Box Hill TAFE and several office buildings have strengthened its centrality in the region. Apart from commercial functions there are large reserves with ovals in three direction about a kilometre from Box Hill Central. Box Hill South lies between Canterbury Road and Burwood East, about two kilometres square. Its proximity to trams was better than Box Hill North's, and its residential growth was substantially pre and early post war. The Box Hill golf club is nearby and a linear park continues along Gardiner's Creek. There are church educational institutions - Kingswood College (Anglican and then Uniting) and the Christian Brothers' Teachers' College and St. Leo's College (1952 and 1957).
In 1971, a sister city relationship was forged with Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan. "Box Hill" is the name of a department store in Matsudo (external site).
Box Hill city was amalgamated with Nunawading city on 15 December, 1994, to form Whitehorse city renewing the boundaries that began with the Nunawading parish and subsequent shire. [1]
[edit] Shopping
Box Hill has a bustling shopping precinct. These range from the shops along Station Street and Whitehorse Road, to the suburbs two shopping centres. Centro Box Hill, formerly Box Hill Central, features Safeway, Target, The Reject Shop, Angus & Robertson book store, Stadium Sports, Sanity, the large indoor Box Hill market, and a large food court. It is also integrated with a bus interchange and the Box Hill railway station. The neighbouring Centro Whitehorse (formerly Whitehorse Plaza), recently renovated and renamed, includes Coles, Best and Less, Priceline, House, Homeart, another food court, and a selection of specialty fashion retail stores. To people who live in, or often commute in Box Hill the two shopping centres are still defined as "Central" (Centro Box Hill) and "Centro" (Centro Whitehorse.) There are rumours that the two shopping centres will one day be joined, this would mainly be due to the fact that, at parts, they are only separated by a walkway.
[edit] Transport
Box Hill is also a major transport hub for the City of Whitehorse and surrounding suburbs. Box Hill Central is built over Box Hill railway station, on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines. This complex also includes a large bus terminus linking commuters to a variety of destinations across the eastern suburbs.
The number 109 tram route along Whitehorse Road was recently extended to link Box Hill to the city and inner suburbs.
[edit] Sport
The Box Hill Hawks are a local Australian rules football club playing in the Victorian Football League and based at the Box Hill City Oval. This team was formerly known as the Mustangs, named for the city's mascot, the white horse.
[edit] Residential
The surrounding suburb also features mature residential developments ranging from medium to high density.
Box Hill Hospital serves Box Hill and its surrounding suburbs. The Epworth Eastern private hospital was recently completed next to the Box Hill Hospital.
Aqualink Box Hill (formerly Whitehorse Aquatic and Leisure Centre), run by Whitehorse council, provides residents with an indoor and outdoor pool, basketball courts, a gym, squash, and tennis courts. The surrounding parklands include—aside from a large lake (now filled with water, but once used as a quarry)—a baseball diamond, a football oval, and cricket pitches.
The Box Hill Action Indoor Sports Centre also provides residents with dedicated facilities for indoor soccer, cricket and netball, as well as providing birthday parties for children on weekends.
[edit] Education
The suburb of Box Hill has several schools, including Box Hill High School, Box Hill Senior Secondary College, Our Lady of Sion College, Kingswood College and St. Francis Xavier Primary School. For mature students, Box Hill Institute of TAFE and St Leo International College provide further education, and buses link Box Hill's terminus to Deakin University (Burwood campus), Monash University and La Trobe University. Swinburne University is a short 10 minute train trip away towards the city. The University of Melbourne is approximately 30 minutes by train. There are two kindergartens in the area, St Peter's Anglican Kindergarten Inc, and Kingswood College Early Learning Centre.
[edit] External link
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
- Australian Places - Box Hill
| Suburbs of the City of Whitehorse | |
|---|---|
|
Blackburn | Blackburn North | Blackburn South | Box Hill | Box Hill North | Box Hill South | Burwood | Burwood East | Forest Hill | Mitcham | Mont Albert | Mont Albert North | Nunawading | Surrey Hills | Vermont | Vermont South |
